Miramichi is the largest city in northern New Brunswick. The Miramichi riding contains the largest portion of the city. The riding includes the section of Miramichi on the southeast side of the Miramichi River and also the portion of the city on the northwest side of the Miramichi River, on the southwest side of French Fort Brook.

The riding’s economy is driven largely by the natural resource industry, such as mining, fishing and forestry. The service sector is Miramichi’s largest employer. There are many other smaller employers, such as the federal and provincial governments, call centres, manufacturing companies and the tourism sector.

This demographic information is from Statistics Canada's 2011 census. The New Brunswick provincial average for mother tongue is 34 per cent French, 63 per cent English, and three per cent other. On average, the New Brunswick electorate is distributed in four different kinds of areas. Thirty-six per cent live in a city, 32 per cent in a non-municipality, 30 per cent in a municipality, and two per cent in a rural area.

Miramichi is a largely the former Miramichi Centre riding. This riding has bounced between the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives in recent elections. Progressive Conservative Robert Trevors won the riding in 2010. He is the minister of human resources and he has also served as the minister of public safety. Liberal John Foran won the riding in 2003 and 2006. He served as the minister of public safety from 2006 to 2010. Tory Kim Jardine won the 1999 election and served as the minister of environment and local government.

Liberal Bill Fraser is running in the Miramichi riding. Fraser was elected in 2006 and 2010 in Miramichi-Bay-du-Vin. Michael `Tanker' Malley, who was a Progressive Conservative MLA under Bernard Lord in 1999 and 2003 and who served as Speaker of the Legislature before being defeated in 2006, is running as an independent candidate.